On the banks of the Kanas Lake, there live 2,000 Tuwas, a
Mongolian tribe that have existed in this remote area of northwest
China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region for generations. They mainly inhabit
the areas of Kanas, Hemu and Baihaba. Their primitive nomadic
lifestyle seems to have been isolated from the modern civilization
of the 21st century.
They believe in Shamanism and Lamaism and keep the primitive
worship of fire and other natural forces as their ancestors did.
They offer sacrifices to mountains, waters, Heaven, fire and Aobao
(a kind of stone piles).
Tuwa people live a nomad life, residing in yurts or log houses
roofed with straws. Due to the geographic conditions and natural
environment, the Tuwas' habits and customs are similar to that of
the Kazaks and Mongolians. They eat meat and dairy food, such as
beef, mutton, milk, yogurt and milk-wine, in addition to potatoes
and other vegetables.
They celebrate not only the Mongolian Aobao Festival but also
the
Spring Festival and
Lantern Festival of Han Chinese. Every spring, they drive their
herds of cows and sheep to leave their homes and start the grazing
trip till July or August, when they would begin to make hays for
feeding their livestock in the winter.
It's said that the Tuwas were originated from the old or wounded
soldiers abandoned by Genghis Khan when he led his people to
expedite westward. Some people hold that they're an independent
ethnic group, while others believe they are a branch tribe of the
Mongolian ethnic group. Up to now, a Tuwa is registered as a
Mongolian when his or her ethnic identity is concerned.
Tuwas have no written language. Their history has been passed
down orally from generation to generation. Since there is no
written archeological reference, the folk stories have inevitably
added mysterious color to the tribe.
Due to the isolation of their residential areas, the Tuwas
always marry their close relatives, which has made the quality of
the people drop increasingly. According to the governmental
prediction, the tribe will possibly disappear within a couple of
generations.
(China.org.cn by Chen Lin, January 27, 2004)